The New Orleans Pelicans face tough questions with Norris Cole

When the New Orleans Pelicans acquired Norris Cole at the NBA trade deadline not much was thought of the move. The Pelicans took in a player that the Miami Heat were desperate to get rid of thanks to some awful play for the price of just John Salmons. Considering what the Pelicans trotted out at backup point guard for most of the season the move made a lot of sense as a low risk, high reward type of gamble.

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As it turns out the reward was higher than anyone could have realistically guessed, as Cole transformed from bad in Miami to borderline bench star in New Orleans and helped the Pelicans make the NBA playoffs. Now with Cole’s status as a restricted free agent looming the Pelicans need to make a decision on how much to trust Cole going forward.

What makes the question so difficult is everything surrounding not only this season but all the main questions surrounding the Pelicans core going forward.

First and foremost comes the question of if Cole can realistically perform as well as he did to end the season in New Orleans which based on prior history has a clear answer—no. During his 28 game stint in New Orleans, Cole posted career best numbers in field goal percentage, three-point percentage, two-point percentage and true shooting percentage. Cole also posted a career low turnover percentage and the third best assist percentage of his career (one of the points ahead of it was his stint in Miami this season), all while posting the second highest usage rate of his career. Quite simply, Cole was a completely different player with the Pelicans than he has been the entire rest of his career.

While there is some hope that the growth is sustainable the numbers don’t make it seem that likely. The biggest driver of Cole’s rise in field goal and two-point percentages was a completely unsustainable 50% shooting mark from 16 feet to the three-point line for Cole in New Orleans, shots that made up 30.2 percent of his shot attempts per basketball-reference. Before this season Cole had shot over 40 percent from that distance in just two of his four seasons, with a previous career high of 44.5 percent. Considering that just 39 percent of Cole’s two-point shots were assisted the Pelicans would need Cole to continue to shoot insane percentages from mid-range off the dribble to play as well again offensively.

The other tough part of valuing Cole comes from his role. Heading into next season the Pelicans hope to have Jrue Holiday back healthy which would potentially mean sending Tyreke Evans to the role of sixth man. Considering that Evans finished second on the team in usage rate this season, that would point to a diminished role for Cole as a bench shot creator. Considering that it remains to be seen how good of a spot-up shooter Cole can be going forward. Cole has shot over 35 percent just one full season in his career, a number that isn’t promising for a guy that will be a mostly off the ball threat.

Despite all the questions it seems to make sense for New Orleans to bring Cole back next year if the price is right. Taking a chance that something finally clicked for a young player after a change of scenery is always a good idea, especially if the chemistry is good with the rest of the roster, which it seems to be with Cole. The key to it all though is minimizing expectations. If New Orleans expects Cole to replicate the performance he gave them to end this year then they are setting themselves up for disappointment. The Pelicans got what very well may be the best 30 game stretch that Cole will ever play, but that doesn’t mean he can’t be productive going forward. Keeping him at the right price to do that is the important thing.

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